If you’re bidding on consulting-type jobs on anywhere online, there’s one trap that will waste more of your time than almost anything else:

Trying to bid on a complex project before you understand what the client actually wants.

Let me say this plainly:

That’s a fool’s errand.

When a client posts a job that’s vague, sprawling, and scattered, you are not looking at a clearly defined project.

You’re looking at a brain dump.

A vision.

A wish list.

And if you respond as if it’s already structured and defined… you are volunteering to organize their chaos for free.

Recently, I reviewed a job post that perfectly illustrates the issue.

Here’s a simplified version of what the client was asking for:

An finance consultant wanted help turning his existing content into a corporate workshop for startup founders.

He had:

He wanted someone to:

He also mentioned:

On the surface, this sounds straightforward.

But look more closely.

This isn’t “make some slides.”

This is curriculum design, learning architecture, intellectual property extraction, sequencing, pacing, exercise design, modular formatting, and strategic positioning.

And the client hasn’t clearly defined:

That’s not a well-scoped project.

That’s a vision in search of structure.

At first glance, it sounds like:

“Help me turn my articles into a workshop.”

But once you ask real questions, the scope multiplies.

That alone can take 5–10 hours.

Most experts don’t naturally think in “curriculum format.”
You’re extracting intellectual property.

This is instructional design — not formatting.

Now you’re building a professional product.

Each decision changes the structure.

These answers directly affect how much time and polish the project requires.

Now this is no longer:

“Create some slides.”

This is:

“Help me build a revenue-generating intellectual property asset.”

That is consulting.

And consulting begins with clarity.

When they see a job like this, they:

And what happens?

The client gets overwhelmed.

Or ghosts.

Or underestimates the budget.

Or hires someone cheaper who also underestimates the scope.

Long proposals often create friction, not confidence.

Don’t bid on the entire project.

Bid on the first hour.

You say:

Short.

Calm.

Professional.

If they won’t invest in one hour of clarity, they will not invest properly in the full project.

And now you’ve filtered out the wrong client before wasting time.

If you’re over 50, you are not starting from scratch.

You’ve:

So when you see a scattered job post…

Don’t shrink.

Don’t over-explain.

Don’t chase.

That’s what beginners do.

The client doesn’t need slides.

They need structure.

They need someone who can think at a higher level.

That’s you.

You don’t build sustainable portable income by reacting to every job post.

You build it by:

The first product you sell is not the deliverable.

It’s clarity.

It’s diagnosis.

It’s direction.

It’s the one-hour conversation that turns chaos into a plan.

And here’s the quiet confidence you can carry into every proposal:

If someone won’t invest in one hour of clarity, they’re not ready for the real work.

This is exactly the kind of real-world situation we break down inside our membership community — messy job posts, unclear clients, scope creep traps, and how to position yourself as a confident consultant instead of a desperate bidder.

Each week, we focus on practical strategies that help you protect your time, price correctly, and build portable income the smart way.

If this article hit home, you’d probably get a lot out of the membership.

And you’ll be surrounded by people who are building the same kind of future.